Red Grange in Hollywood: Pro Football's First Superstar on the Big Screen

By Chris Willis

After being founded in 1920, the National Football League's first couple of seasons were marked by anonymity and failure, with the league lagging behind baseball, boxing, golf, tennis and even horse racing in popularity. But in the fall of 1925 that all changed. After his final game at the University of Illinois the biggest college football star in the country, All-American halfback Harold "Red" Grange, decided to play pro football with the Chicago Bears. While playing in the NFL, Grange also appeared in several Hollywood productions--thus becoming the first active NFL player in history to appear in a movie.

This is the first book-length look at the Galloping Ghost's career in Hollywood, recalling Hollywood in the years of the silent movies and transition to the "talkies." Grange would rub elbows with a cast of characters that included Douglas Fairbanks, Marion Davies, Sam Wood, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jobyna Ralston, Nat Levine and many more. Honoring the 100th anniversary of Red's first Hollywood movie release, One Minute to Play (FBO, 1926), this unique look is illustrated with more than 60 images, some that have never been published before.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 147669527X
• ISBN13: 9781476695273
• Release Date: February 2027
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 168 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up